KUCHING, March 12 — The state government will proceed with hosting international and regional events, but stringent precautionary and preventative measures will be put in place against the spread of Covid-19 pandemic into Sarawak, state Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said today.

He said the events include the Asean Spartan Race in April, World Rainforest Musical Festival in July, International Dragon Boat Race in October and Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Conference in November.

“Although we are cautious of the Covid-19 outbreak, our international and regional events and conferences will still proceed with stringent precautionary or prevention measures put in place,” he said at the state tourism steering committee meeting.

However, he said the state government will refuse entry to those from mainland China, Iran, Italy and South Korea or visitors who have been to these worst affected countries within 14 days before the start of each event.

Advertisement

“We have lifted Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan from the refusal list of visitors,” he added.

Karim assured that the state government will continue to monitor the situation in a stringent manner so as to ensure that Sarawak continues to be a safe destination for both international and domestic visitors.

He said although the recent global Covid-19 pandemic has caused some concerns especially for the Visit Malaysia 2020 initiative and also to the Visit Sarawak Campaign, his ministry is still optimistic of the potential of the tourism sector in Sarawak.

Advertisement

“My ministry and Sarawak Tourism Board have responded to the current situation by a quick review of our marketing strategies which include turning our promotional and marketing initiatives to domestic tourism and to encourage more domestic tourists from Peninsular  Malaysia, Sabah and local Sarawakians to choose Sarawak as a preferred holiday destination.  

“We are very optimistic of the potential of domestic tourism for Sarawak,” he said, adding that last year, domestic visitors arrivals have increased by double digit at 11.30 per cent compared to 2018.  

“This is a very encouraging trend considering the importance of domestic tourism to the local economy,” he added.

Pointing out that tourism is an important pillar of Sarawak’s economy, he said according to the Regional Tourism Satellite Account Sarawak 2019, the Gross Value Added of Tourism Industry had generated a revenue of RM11.57 billion for Sarawak.

He said this contributed 8.72 per cent of share to Sarawak’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) while employment in the tourism industry was 0.24 million persons which contributed 19.1 per cent to the total employment of 1.3 million population in the state.

He said retail trade and accommodation and food and beverage serving services recorded the highest number of employees in the tourism industry with a share of 40.1 per cent and 38.1 per cent respectively.